An assessment of space situation around Sun-Earth Lagrange Point L1

  ISRO's Aditya-L1 mission, launched on September 2, 2023, is India's first mission dedicated to studying the Sun, specifically the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona of Sun. The spacecraft has commenced its journey to its final destination, the Sun-Earth Lagrange’s Point 1 (L1), on September 18, 2023. Lagrange points, also known as libration points, are unique locations in space where the gravitational force of two massive bodies (like Sun and Earth) precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object (like spacecraft) to move with them. This makes Lagrange points an excellent location for spacecrafts as orbit corrections and hence fuel requirements, needed to maintain the desired orbit, are kept at a minimum. For any combination of two orbital bodies (like Sun-Earth and Earth-Moon systems), there are five Lagrange points (L1 to L5), all in the orbital plane of the two large bodies (figure-1). The three points - L1, L2, and L3 are dynamically unstable and l